Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland created “28 Days Later” in 2003 and it broke new ground with its fast-moving zombies. This latest sequel continues to be more about the survivors than the undead and how the humans have become even more horrible than the ghouls. Ralph Fiennes is back as the doctor trying to understand the virus, which is furthered by his encounter with a particularly imposing zombie (Chi Lewis-Parry). The majority of the movie is spent with the gang that showed up at the end of the last film. Jack O’Connell plays the leader of this small group of young people who are doing his bidding, which is basically capturing and torturing innocent humans. This includes some pretty gruesome scenes, but violence is an expected part of these films. Throughout these cruel episodes is a boy from the last one (Alfie Williams) who’s been conscripted into the gang. His experiences provide the story’s sensitive moments and they ultimately end the film with a somewhat hopeful outlook. It’s certainly better than the last one (my 1.5 star review) and bodes well for the final one. Even there aren’t any real moments of tension, it’s mean and violent, but ultimately sweetly compelling. 
(4 / 5)
